First Real 5G SoC From Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 865 is Under Development

In February 2018, Samsung and Qualcomm announced their cooperation to work together to manufacture Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G mobile chipsets using Samsung’s 7-nanometer (nm) LPP (Low Power Plus) EUV process technology.

At that time it was not revealed which model number SoC will be the first 5G ready to hit the market. Some speculated that it could be the Snapdragon 855 as the next high-end SoC for smartphones, but it’s not true.

The Snapdragon 855 can work as 5G only when paired with the 5G Snapdragon X50 modem and their combination is referred to as Fusion Platform. The recent example is Motorola’s Moto Moto Z3 which becomes 5G capable when paired with 5G Moto Mod.

It’s a combination of Snapdragon X50 and Snapdragon X24 for LTE.

Snapdragon 865 Manufacturing and Testing

Now coming to the Snapdragon 865. As per the report of ComputerBase, the fact that Qualcomm has already started the development of the Snapdragon 865 can be confirmed by working on a new design for a Snapdragon 865 reference device that has been running since June of this year. The Snapdragon 865 is likely to have the 5G modem integrated this time.

Seeing the Snapdragon generations which includes Snapdragon 820, 835 and 845, the successor Snapdragon 855 will not be a fully 5G chipset and expected at the end of the year produced at TSMC in 7nm FinFET.

But, as mentioned above that Samsung and Qualcomm partnership for true 5G ready SoC suggesting towards the Snapdragon 865. However, the availability of 5G connectivity will occasionally be available towards the end of the year and over the next year, but the new mobile phone standard will pick up speed only in 2020.

Qualcomm’s first real 5G chip Snapdragon 865 should also be available only then.